Returning the Favor
by PartyLikeAHardy
Summary: Payback 2015's Fatal 4-way was torture on the 4 men involved, and afterwards they all have things they have to work through in order to move on. Seth has to cope with loosing his brothers, Dean and Roman have to reconcile their brotherhood, and Randy has to deal with being knocked off the mountain and disappointing his family. Nothing is ever easy, especially dealing with payback.
1. Chapter 1: Seth Rollins

A/N: per the suggestion of ringaroundtherollins, I decided to write a small reaction story after the Fatal Fourway at Payback 2015.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that seems familiar. WWE and the Superstars own the characters/gimmicks.

Chapter One: Seth Rollins

Seth sat in his locker room, calming down after the emotional main event of Payback. The match had been grueling. J & J Security had tried to follow him into the room but he had sent them off with a withering look and a threat not to bother him. Joey had replied with a quick "yes boss," and hurriedly pushed Jamie in the other direction, fearing what would happen if they stuck around too long.

Nothing good ever came from a fatal four way when a wrestlers health was involved. But for Seth, the biggest disappointment had been the possibility of reconnecting with his brothers being dashed right in front of him. What did he expect, he had betrayed them, swung a chair at Roman's back and curb stomped Dean on a pile of chairs. He knew they had been hurting from the night before and he had done it anyway. And for what? The title that he had around his waist. Seth's head dropped to his hands as he tried to compose his thoughts.

Was it worth it? He asked himself that every day since it happened. Was having the title worth the looks of sheer disgust and hatred he got every time Dean and Roman saw him? He didn't know anymore. At first he could live with it, he had his title and he was the Authority's golden boy. But as time went on, this became less clear. Dean and Roman had left a hole in himself that the Authority couldn't fill. Yeah he had Triple H, J & J Security, Stephanie, and the rest, but they couldn't replace what he had when he was a part of the Shield, nothing could. What the three of them had was special, they started out as three separate wrestlers and they became brothers in all but blood.

Things began to feel right again when they hit Orton with that triple powerbomb. He thought maybe they could re-unite and Dean and Roman could join him and the Authority. Even if Triple H and Stephanie weren't happy with it at first, he knew he could get them to see the benefit of adding Dean and Roman to the mix. It's not like the Shield hadn't helped the Authority before, at least this time bigger titles were involved, they could have all been singles champions. But Dean and Roman weren't having any of it, he guessed. They weren't drinking the kool-aid as Dean probably would have said.

Seth could have hit himself, what possessed him to think that Dean and Roman would join the Authority after everything that had happened? He missed them, dammit he missed them like crazy. He missed Dean's inability to sleep straight through the night and his tendency to cuddle if you got to close. He missed Roman's constant mothering, wondering if he was keeping hydrated enough during a workout, was he eating enough, making sure he got enough sleep. Yeah they annoyed the hell out of him sometimes, but that's what brothers do, they drive each other crazy.

Seth let out a sigh as someone pounded on the locked door of his locker room. "Yeah?" he called out wanting them to leave as soon as possible so he could continue to stew on what if and could haves.

"It's Stephanie," a feminine voice called from behind the locked door. Seth couldn't keep his boss out, not if he wanted to keep his title or his job. He could get away with sending J & J away from him but Steph and Hunter were a different matter entirely. He scrambled up and headed to the door, unlocking it with a quick flick of his wrist.

"What'd you need, Steph?" he asked forcing a smile to grace his face as to not reveal the lingering feelings of despair and regret show.

"Just wanted to see how our still WWE World Heavy weight Champion was doing," Steph said with a sly grin on her face, almost as if she could read Seth's mind and see all those dirty little thoughts swirling around.

With the false smile still in place, Seth was quick to reply with an "I'm doing great, I still have my title and I got to beat the crap out of those three idiots." _Forgive me guys_ he though immediately afterwards. He hated having to say all these negative things about Dean and Roman, but what could he do, the Authority had him in their grasp now, and there was no escape.

"Good," Steph said smiling even wider, "I was worried there was a problem when you sent Joey and Jaime away."

"No, no problem," Seth said perhaps a little quickly. "I just like being alone after a match and those two make it hard to concentrate and unwind." He finished, hoping to recover from his quick answer.

Steph smiled and nodded, "That's what I like to hear, hope there won't be any more problems from those two."

Seth didn't know which two she was talking about, Dean and Roman or Joey and Jaime, but he wasn't about to ask and dig a hole even deeper. Steph said a short goodbye and exited down the hall. Seth all but slammed the door shut behind him, making sure to lock it before he let out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.

 _It will all be worth it in the end, just you wait and see,_ he thought to himself in an attempt to reassure the decisions he had made. Seth couldn't help but let the few tears that had gathered in his eyes roll down his cheeks. He didn't have the strength to hold back the pain that he had brought upon himself.

He knew he had no one to blame but himself for this feeling of absolute loneliness. However he refused to let it consume him, wiping away the tears, he made a promise to himself. He would make the best out of this situation that he had managed to find himself in, he would be the best WWE WHW Champion he could be, and eventually one day he would make it up to his brothers, even if it took years.

Seth's last thought before grabbing his things to leave for the next show was _forgive me guys, I know I fucked up but one day I'll make it up to you, I swear._


	2. Chapter 2: Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns

**A/N: Dean and Roman's reaction to the Fatal Four way. Sorry it took so long guys, university and other projects took over my life. Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Anything familiar belongs to the WWE and the Superstars portrayed in this story.**

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Dean Ambrose yelled as he and Roman made it back to their locker room after the fatal four way. He was raging, ripping the tape off his hands, and kicking his bag out of the way. Roman stood behind Dean, upset but less so than Dean. The two men had a rocky brotherhood leading up to Payback. Both had gone for the big title, the WWE World Heavy Weight Championship, and both had lost it. If one of them had won, the rough relationship would have been worth it. And the loss had hit both men hard.

"That was us, both giving it our all for that title." Roman explained trying to keep Dean from blowing his top even worse than he already was. He knew what Dean was really talking about, but refused to play into Dean's anger. He didn't want to fight with Dean, but he was probably going to anyway.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! What the hell was that with Rollins?!" Dean raged whirling around to face Roman, not happy with his initial answer. Now Roman was getting angry, something he rarely did outside of the ring, let alone with Dean. He didn't appreciate getting yelled at by Dean over something like what just happened, especially after the results of the match.

"YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THAT WAS!" Roman finally yelled. For a split second, they were the Shield again, they were brothers. Dean still held onto that hate, letting it fester and grow until he could finally take it out on Seth. Roman, Roman slowly forgave Seth, he still didn't understand exactly why Seth had betrayed them like that, but he forgave him. Seth was his little brother and as much as he wanted him back, he couldn't unless Dean agreed. They couldn't be a family if one of them was still pissed off.

"NO! No I really don't, explain it to me!" Dean challenged. He couldn't understand why Roman was so chill with Seth, not after what had happened, he attacked them with a chair after Payback 2014 when they were already in pain. Talk about adding insult to injury, or injury to injury. Yes, Dean had taken part in the triple powerbomb to Orton, but that didn't mean he was any happier about working with Seth on it.

"He's our brother! Just because he's lost his way and become infatuated with the Authority doesn't mean he's not our family anymore!" Roman replied trying to contain his anger. He just wanted Dean to understand, Seth was their family. He hated fighting with Dean, it seemed they did nothing BUT fight leading up to Payback and he wanted it to end.

"No! He's not our family anymore. Family doesn't attack you with a chair when they already know how hurt and run down you are! Family doesn't betray you for a group of people you fought against!" Dean choked out, fighting back tears. Just like Roman, he was tired, mentally, physically, and emotionally. The fatal four way had shaken him. He wanted Seth back almost as much as Roman, but how do you fix trust that has been broken almost beyond repair? In Dean's mind, you don't, it couldn't be fixed and that killed him inside.

"Why are you giving up on him so easily?!" Roman questioned, he always thought that Dean would go to the ends of the earth for him or Seth. Roman knew Dean was hurt, but he didn't know he was hurting that bad.

"Because he promised that he wouldn't leave us, that he wouldn't betray us like that, and he FUCKIN' DID! HE LIED TO US!" Tears finally started to fall down Dean's face. He couldn't keep them in anymore. Dean wasn't good with emotions, especially when it came to Seth and Roman.

It was as if a pin had punctured him and all the anger was drained out. Roman's face fell, how could he have not noticed that Dean was hurting that much. What kind of older brother was he, if you couldn't protect one of his little brothers, let alone both of them? Seth became enamored with the Authority and felt as if he couldn't succeed with the Shield and Dean felt so betrayed that he didn't know what to do with himself, except take it out on Seth and make him feel the same pain.

"I'm so sorry, how could I have missed this?" Roman questioned pulling Dean in for a hug. He was surprised that Dean let him, he was never a touchy feely person. Dean, in a constant effort to surprise Roman, buried his head in Roman's shoulder and let the tears fall faster, mumbling "how could he"s and "he promised". Roman didn't know what else to do besides wrap his arms tighter around Dean and just offer a general comfort.

Roman felt low, he and Dean had been doing nothing but fighting recently, all over that stupid title that had stolen their little brother away from them. Roman had forgiven Seth and he had been nothing but angry recently, he couldn't even begin to understand what Dean was feeling. He had to have been feeling like he was losing his other brother, the only family he really had left.

"I'm so so sorry. I'm not going anywhere and I promise you, we'll get Seth back. We'll get him back and have him explain exactly why he did what he did, and he'll be out baby brother again. And I promise no more fighting amongst the two of us for that stupid title, we'll always be brothers, title or no." Roman whispered into Dean's hair, trying to offer as much comfort as he could give after that match and emotional breakdown.

"How can you promise something like that?" Dean choked out pulling back from Roman enough to look him in the eye. He wanted, no needed, the eye contact. In his experience it was much harder for someone to lie to him when he was staring him in the eye.

"I can promise you something like that, because I'm your brother, your _older_ brother," Roman said with a chuckle, "and as your brother I can't lie to you." With Dean relaxing after the huge blowout, Roman sat him down and removed the rest of the wrist tape that Dean had attempted to rip off, pausing only to get some ice to soothe the irritate red sections where the tape had pulled.

Dean chuckled a little, surprised that Roman would go out of his way to take care of him after how this conversation had started. But no matter he was glad that he had some sort of family left. The pain of Seth's betrayal was still there but it ached more than it stung. He could try for Roman's sake to hate Seth less, but unlike Roman he made no promises, especially promises he wasn't sure he could keep. He may have lost Seth, but he still had Roman, even after the shit storm that had been going on recently, and at the moment that was all that mattered.


End file.
